Adjustable holder for partitions



Dec. 19, 1933;

C. A. CUTLER ADJUSTABLE HOLDER FOR PARTITIONS Filed Dec. 14, 1952 .Z/yVE/VTofif CLIFFOFSD- A. CUTLER Patented Dec. 19, 193?;

* PATENT OFFICE f w 1,940,048 ADJUSTABLE HOLDER FOR PARTITIONS Clifford A. Cutler, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application December 14, 1932 Serial No. 647,181

7 Claims.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that ordinarily where partitions are used, as,

for instance, in the drawers of desks, vertical grooves are provided in the inner faces of the walls of the drawer for engagement with the partitions. These grooves are spaced apart a suitable distance so as to give predetermined fixed adjustment of the compartments formed by the partitions, but no provision is made for making compartments of varying size.

The principal object of my invention has been to provide an adjustable holder for partitions, whereby the partitions may be accurately and conveniently adjusted to form compartments of any desired size.

Another object has been to provide an adjustable holder for partitions which will be frictionally held in its adjusted position.

Furthermore, because of the provision of a single, longitudinal groove in each of the side walls of the drawer, the cost of the manufacture of drawers is reduced as compared to a drawer provided with a series of vertical partition grooves.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a drawer showing my adjustable partition holder and partition in place. a

Fig. 2 is a transverse,- fragmentary, sectional elevation of the drawer.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view of the drawer taken transversely through the partition.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown an ordinary desk drawer 5 in illustrating my invention. This drawer has a front wall 6 and two side walls '7 and 8, the rear wall being omitted for clearness'of illustration. The usual bottom 9 is provided.

In order to accommodate the drawer for the reception of my invention, opposite walls, in this case walls '7 and 8, are each provided with a 5 longitudinal groove in the inner face thereof and located preferably at some distance above the bottom 9 of the drawer.

Each of the holders 16 of my invention is formed from a piece of sheet metal such preferably as spring metal having at its lower edge a rolled sleeve 1'7. This sleeve is formed by first bending the material backwardly and then rolling the metal in the form of an open tube, leaving a space 18 between the lower end 19 of the body part and the outer edge 20 of the sleeve part so that the sleeve may be slightly contracted when being inserted within the groove 15 with which it is engaged. The sleeve is so formed that it lies back of a plane passing through the rear face of the body part 21 of the 0 holder; By so positioning the sleeve, it. will be engaged with thegroove when the back face of the body is brought into contact with the inner face of the wall of the drawer. The sleeve is formed slightly larger in diameter than the width of the groove 15 so that when it is engaged with the groove it will be necessary to press it in thereby causing the sleeve to be contracted slightly and thus make sure that it will be retained within the groove by such springing engagement. Any lateral pressure on the partition will only serve to more firmly lock the holder within the groove.

The body 21 of the holder is formed at two 7 places with oppositely arranged tabs 22 which are formed by being cut from the body portion around their peripheries and then being bent outwardly substantially at right angles to the outer face portion of the body. When the tabs are thus bent, each pair will have their sides lying so preferably in parallel planes and at a distance from each other so that they will readily receive the vertical edge of the partition 23 with which they engage.

It will be clear from the foregoing description that the brackets may be easily removed from the grooves 15 and placed in any desired position to provide compartments of any desired size, such adjustment making it possible to accurately proportion each compartment for the papers it is to contain and thus avoid waste space which usually occurs in drawers having fixed partitions.

While I have shown and described transverse partitions, it is obvious that when it is desired to have longitudinal partitions, the front and rear walls may be grooved, or one wall and a transverse partition, or two transverse partitions. Obviously, my invention not limited to desk drawers, but may be used in any container or tray where partitions are employed.

These and other modifications of the details herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims, and I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown and described, the form shown being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a drawer having a longitudinal groove formed in each of two opposite walls, of an adjustable holder carried by each of the grooves and a partition engageable with oppositely arranged holders, each holder comprising a body part formed with tabs for engagement with the partition, and with a compressible sleeve portion formed at one of its edges for springing engagement with the longitudinal groove.

2. The combination with a drawer having a longitudinal groove formed in each of two opposite walls, of an adjustable holder carried by each of the grooves and a partition engageable with oppositely arranged holders, each holder comprising a body part formed with tabs for engagement with the partition, and with a compressible sleeve portion formed at one of its edges for springing engagement with the longitudinal groove, said sleeve being formed with a longitudinal slot in the wall.

3. The combination with a drawer having a longitudinal groove formed in each of two opposite walls, of an adjustable holder carried by each of the grooves and a partition engageable with oppositely arranged holders, each holder comprising a body part formed with tabs for engagement with the partition, and with an open compressible sleeveportion formed at one of its edges for springing engagement with the longitudinal groove, said sleeve portion being formed so as to extend backwardly from a plane passing through the rear face of the body portion.

4. As an article of manufacture, an adjustable holder for partitions, comprising a body part formed along one of its edges with a resilient clamping sleeve, and partition engaging means carried by the body and extending from the body in a direction opposite to the sleeve.

5. As an article of manufacture, an adjustable holder for partitions, comprising a body part formed along one of its edges with an open resilient clamping sleeve, and partition engaging means carried by the body.

6. As an article of manufacture, an adjustable holder for partitions, comprising a body part formed along one of its edges with an open contractible sleeve, the sleeve being extended backwardly from a plane passing through the back surface of the body portion of the holder, the holder being provided with partition engaging tabs. I '7. The combination with a drawer having a single longitudinal groove formed in each of two opposite walls, of an adjustable holder for partitions, comprising a body part formed along one of its edges with resilient contractible means for clamping engagement with one of the single grooves of the drawer walls, and partition engaging means carried by the body part.

CLIFFORD A. CUTLER. 

